Oh how I love the media

Let me say right off the bat, I am sorry that Natalee Holloway is missing. My heart goes out to her family and friends. The following comments are in NO way to be taken as I am upset with Natalee or her family.

That being said….I want to kick the media in it’s collective hind end. Yes, it is tragic this girl is missing, however, I do not need to hear hourly updates about it! I found the following information on tomissingpersons.com :

In 2000, 876,213 missing persons (children and adults) were reported to the police and entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). (with US population 281,421,906 according to US Census).

In 2001, 840,279 missing persons (children and adults) were reported to the police and entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). (with US population 285,093,813 according to US Census Bureau estimate for July 1, 2001).

The specific page is here, and even has the breakdowns for some states.

So why is this girl getting so much attention when so many more people are missing? The same can be said for when Jennifer Wilbanks (the “runaway bride”) or Laci Petterson were missing. Why does the media single out certain cases, but ignore 100,000’s of others?

The answer is sad, but easy, if you are an at least semi-attractive woman, with some little twist to it (you’re pregnant, if you’re about to get married, if you are a church going blonde girl), the media will love you. When was the last time you saw the media run a story on any missing person who was not a white female?

I am not attacking the missing people, their families, or any one involved in the searches. I am attacking the media for an obvious bias. How about showing a man who disappears? An African American? Anyone else? This is just yet another example of how journalism has become all about the “easy” story. Kind of like the whole Michael Jackson thing….but that’s another post in itself.